The Criminal Court has granted a warrant for police to obtain the email and IP address of a Minivan News commentator accused of “violating Islamic principles”.
In a letter signed by Police Inspector Moosa Ali, Head of Fraud and Financial Crime, states that a case was filed at police regarding the commentator’s use of the identity ‘Maai Allah’, and requests Minivan News provide the email and IP address for the investigation.
The letter also asks Minivan News to remove the comment, located on a story dated November 28 titled: ‘Government “cynically used xenophobia, nationalism and religious extremism” to attack foreign investor: former President’.
“As you know, the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation and as no human being has been empowered to take for himself the almighty status using the name of Allah, and as this is insulting to the noble name of Holy Allah and undermines noble Islamic principles or tenets, we require information of the person who made this comment for our investigation,’’ the letter stated.
‘Maai’ is the Dhivehi word for ‘holy’.
The accompanying court warrant was signed by the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, and issued in connection with a case filed by the Cyber Policing Department of the Maldives Police Service.
Minivan News understands that this the first time police have requested the details of an internet commentator in connection with a case filed on religious grounds.
As a Maldives-registered media outlet Minivan News has complied with the warrant and removed the comment as obliged under Maldivian law. The particular IP address requested by police is registered in a foreign country.
Police informed Minivan News that the case was filed by religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf.
The serving of the court warrant follows a statement released by religious Adhaalath Party on December 3 stating that “approving and publishing such comments is a failure to properly fulfill the responsibilities of journalism”, and “calling on the person who wrote the comment and who published it to repent and reform [themselves].”
“A person has commented on Minivan News, a newspaper published online in the country, claiming to be Allah. This is something that involves a serious wrong in it. The reason is because the phrase ‘Allah’ refers to the name of Creator Allah, whom Muslims pray to, seek strength from and whom people find peace in their hearts by praising. Therefore, no human can say I am ‘Maai Allah’ [Holy God]. [They should] instead say ‘Abdullah’ or ‘slave of Allah’,” the party explained.
“If the intention of the person who wrote the comment was to characterise himself as a Khaleefa [steward] of God, that too is a serious wrong. The reason is because all things were created by Allah. And all things are possessed by Allah. Nothing escapes the knowing or possession of the deity. Therefore, only Allah would know whom he would appoint a steward on this earth. A person cannot claim on his own that he is the ‘steward of Allah’.”
“As such problems are a recurring one in the aforementioned newspaper, we urge the relevant authorities to investigate this and take action,” the party urged.
A media monitoring report by Transparency Maldives published in December 2011 found that Minian News’ coverage of the Adhaalath Party was 100 percent positive.
Editor of Minivan News JJ Robinson said:
(0)Dislikes
(0)Related Posts
Religion and nationalism key themes on National Day- Parliament to review constitutional amendment regarding religion
- Hope For Women publishes book on women rights in Islam to counter oppression, intimidation
- Comment: Maldivian history a mockery of past and present
- Government calls for immediate Tourism GST increase to 15 percent
- Maafushi parents pull students from preschool over playing of nursery rhymes, lack of gender segregation
I think (I'm allowed to think aren't I?) that an all powerful, all knowing, all seeing God would probably want his followers to devote their time to solving real social issues, instead of wasting time starting witch hunts for anonymous commentators on news websites. Why doesn't Adhaalath fight for the rights of Bangladeshis who are being exploited as slaves here and across the Muslim world? Last time I checked, they're mostly Muslims too.
Anonymous comments on the internet is of utmost importance! I hope the police assign a team of 80 police officers to this case as well!
Bearing in mind that a poet in one of the repressive and undemocratic Gulf States our western governments so admire was this month sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly insulting the head of state, I hope that is not the way forward for the Maldives. The Maldives appears to be in rapid decline...so sad to see.
No, Hani. The clergy currently ruling Mordiss forbids you from thinking, photography, the consumption of redbull, cheese, chocolate and bananas.
And now, a present to the goyyim police force of Mordis...
http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/297475-ip-address-not-a-person-judge-says-in-copyright-lawsuit
Oh well. They'll just arrest some random tourist on the street just to get at the person's laptop/ipad2 - then auction it off at ibay for some cash. Them police goyyim love their cash, don't ya know?.
What a bunch of unstable, insecure, primitive barbarians!!
Sorry to point you on a typo in the header :
"criminal court ..." should be "criminals court"
The Adhaalath, Jamiyyathul Salaf & other fundies should take their extreme private religion back to Afghanistan and leave the people of the Internet and Maldives alone.
And Adhaalath, have you not heard of A. R. Rahman, who's first name is actually "Allah". Are you going to release a fatwa on him as well?
The equivalent to 'holy' in Dhivehi, if written in what is called "Latin Akuru" that was used for type writing the Dhivehi language in the "Nasir" era, should be written/typed 'maaiy'!
'maai' and 'maattey', most of the time, is seen used as a pet name especially when someone is called Mau'roof!
I dare not guess, what the commentator had in mind, when he commented as 'Maai Allah', Allah forbid!
If at all this guy was portraying him self as Allah in any way (Allah forbid), it would be rather better for him to repent!
Also, if the Islamic Ministry is so inclined to be "Islamic", there are many more, open and established things that need to be addressed!
"The serving of the court warrant follows a statement released by religious Adhaalath Party on December 3 stating that “approving and publishing such comments is a failure to properly fulfill the responsibilities of journalism”, and “calling on the person who wrote the comment and who published it to repent and reform [themselves].”"
I should say that if Adhaalath Party or anyone for that matter, wants to correct someone, they be examples before they can correct.
What I am referring is to is that 3 Sheikhs, all belonging to Adhaalath Party, had been the instrument to a mutiny against and appointed leader of a state whose religion is Islam!
I would rather think they repent before advicing others to repent!
What is the modarator doing before publishing the coments????
It is very common for minvan news to publish anti islam content. It was just days ago minivan news published series of comments by the name of Allah and mocking the holy Quran.
We will not tolerate these sort of things by this openly anti Islam site who are staffed with local and foreign islamophobes.
Few days back minivan news published comments using the name of Allah. I commented as IFM and requested to take down the comment and suprisingly they did remove the comment. But, a writer in minivan news who goes by the name of mohamed nahee commented on his twitter account that fundamentalists from islamic federation of maldives are against freedom of expression and there is no law in maldives that is broken by publishing such comments. He was encouraging to publish more of such comments.
Well, Im not from any organization. Im just an individual who dont like to see my religion mocked here everyday. And now I got my conformation that I was right all along, it is against the laws and regulation to publish anti islam material in maldives;That most people who work here hold an openly anti muslim agenda.
I hope in future you people respect the laws of this country. Will continue monitoring your activities in future.
Why isnt JJ Robinson offering any apology?
Once upon a time, Muslims were the envy of the world. Today, they're the butt of jokes all over the world. Why do you think that is?
There was a time when Muslims thought out of the box, were creative and ingenious. They advanced the cause of civilisation in all directions. Now, if you think the creator can be personified by someone mis-spelling a name which is ultimately, just fundamental particles spinning in a particular way, then there lies the problem.
But I digress. We are talking about a banana republic that has lost all common sense and more. There's little to be gained by trying to talk sense into them.
Actually what minivan is doing very good in terms of discrediting their very own cause. Minivan is the official and unofficial mouthpiece of MDP and its good to see them doing some self-harm after the arson attacks of 7th February. The more you write against Islam the more votes you loose and the more distant Anni gets to his beloved office.
Hooray Minivan, keep up the good work! Write your friends out to oblivion!
As a rule i do not read Minivan unless there is a link of a good story like this one. But to come to my point - going all the way to warrants and stuff is the lengths this regime will go to show just what an exemplary Afghanistan Maldives has become. They are using scare tactics to do everything and the next thing u know they will demand all women stay at home.
And women who work because their husbands are too lazy or sick or addicts will just have to dig a hole and bury themselves and their children with them.
We weep for our country that is no longer one.
Bad for business for cyber cafe's.Whole places may be regarded "kushuge veshi" and everyone inside get bashed up...
He/She might be suffering schizophrenia, or any other psychotic diseases. The police should be investigating that too.
Tell the Adhaalath party to send their golhaa force to this foreign country.
Oh, and IFM - people like you are why Islam is the joke of the world now. Do the muslims of the world a huge favor and remove yourself from existence.
Its true that Maldives is 100%muslim country in 900 Maldives was a Budihst nation.
Abdul Barakaathul Barubary Made Maldives a musim counry but during that time there was no communication and unable to travel People were takeing flowers to the Mosck.
After that there was a time that Potugul rules Maldives by Andeias Andru.
The Maldivian were swimming uncover together and sleeping unmarried to getter.
even feel today Maldives is 100%musim country by low but don't see 100% people follow the the realign.
Islam is realign it dose not force to believe but for those who believe (the democratic view of Islam)
The book Quran is book written for People who understand Arabic and in Arabic I wonder how maney Maldivian understand Arabic.Islam says you cane only force your own child also between 7 to 9 years not before or after but the low says every Maldivian has to be a Muslim not the realign.
The law is stronger than the faith we must follow true Islam with aney force.
what nonsense is going on ,perhaps the next person to be arrested may be the judge himself what his name
Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed,
“As you know, the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation and as no human being has been empowered to take for himself the almighty status using the name of Allah"
Adalath must be pissing in their pants when they see the comments from most intelligent people in the republic of Zombies. Those mullahs may not have been sleeping with fit of anger and probably looking for the identity of commentators to give them same fate as the moderate scholar has met. And that MNDF and police are there to help them to carry out this Islamic terrorism. Maldives is going down like that of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Minivan news must be vigilant.
How arrogant of us puny humans to think the Almighty Allah needs our help. Only Almighty Allah has got the right to judge his disciples.
And so in time his justice will fall over the blasphemous Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, who deems himself a God and so spits in the face of our Holy Ruler.
I think both the court and the Minivan News were wrong on this occasion.
Criminal court should only ask for removal of the comment and not the IP address. (It is widely accepted in developed countries that IP addresses alone are not taken as evidence that the owner of the IP address did the wrong).
But Minivan News also need to moderate the comments on their website. It has gone out of control and civility and decency is long forgotten now. Freedom of expression does not equate to freedon to insult and defame. Minivan News has a responsibility to maintain standards in its forums.
minivan news itself is run by anti islamic, immoral, unethical unreasonable people. A bunch of people from the stone age who don't know right from wrong. Boycott minivan News!!!!!!!!!!
Shalom. I call upon Maldives religious authority to remove that comment made by the goyyim pretending to be the One True God, Yahweh.
If you do not comply, we'll stop attacking Palestine and carpet bomb Mordiss instead.
@a jew
Sorry, but Mordiss do not consider jews to be people. 🙁
Sorry about that
my thunder power is on a fritz can you punish those who blaspheme against me as well
those God of War games r really annoying me
those games should be banned in maldives
it has nude girls in it!! - it is truly the work of the devil
...plus they make me out to be the villain
theres something called RESPECT no matter what you believe in.